I thought you might enjoy this poignant commentary on how health care is more about big business than health.

Happy Friday!

If you can’t see the embedded video below click here to watch.

This afternoon I listened to a radio host interview a doctor about … what else … H1N1.

The slant to his interview was “Are children at risk of contracting H1N1 when they go trick or treating?”

The host asked the doctor questions like: “Can H1N1 be transmitted through candy.” “Are children at risk by touching a door knob that a bunch of other kids have touched?”

And my personal favourite question: “Could a ‘bad guy’ use Halloween candy to deliberately spread H1N1?”

I think the doctor was as frustrated as I was with the way the interview was going and he gave a calm and courteous, but firm “No” answer to all these questions.

I wish the media would stop.

If the media really wanted to do service to the public they would talk about how eating a whole bunch of sugar laced with food colouring, preservatives, and artificial stuff wreaks havoc on a child’s immune system.

And not only does all that crap food almost instantly deflate immune function, but researchers now say that repeated high spikes in blood sugar greatly contributes to one’s risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes.

Oh ya … don’t forget the damage that sugar can do to your child’s beautiful second set of newly forming teeth!

If you really want to protect your children this Halloween, limit the amount of candy they eat to one treat per day for a just a day or two, then quietly throw the rest in the garbage.

Want to know more? See “What’s so bad about junk food.”

A British study on the nutritional value of organic foods was released yesterday.  (source National Post: “No nutritional value added in organics: study.” Thur. July 31, 2009 http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1842708)

The study concluded that “Organically produced foods have no more nutritional value than conventionally grown products and consumers who pay a premium for organic foods are doing so based on perception, not fact” [my emphasis]

Are they daft?

Do they think that people who purchase organic food are daft?

I purchase organic products because I care about my health and the health of my planet.

I purchase organic products because of what it doesn’t contain . I personally do not want to eat residue from pesticides such as:

- Iprodione*. A known carcinogen used in the conventional production of almonds, Iprodione is also a potential ground water contaminant and suspected endocrine disruptor.

- o-Phenylphenol*. A known carcinogen used in the conventional productions of apples, o-Phenylphenol is also a developmental or reproductive toxin and a suspected endocrine disruptor.

- Chlorothalonil*, a known carcinogen used in the conventional production of tomatoes, that also has the potential to be a ground water contaminant.

By purchasing organic products I support biodiversity, environmental stewardship, clean water, clean air, safe work environments for farm workers, preservation of heirloom plants, soil nutrition, small-scale family farms, ethical treatment of animals, sustainable agriculture and the list goes on.

Purchasing organic isn’t about better nutrition.

Purchasing organic is a non-selfish way of saying “I care.” 

*Information sourced from PAN Pesticide Database http://www.pesticideinfo.org and What’s on my food? http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/index.jsp. Retrieved July 31, 2009.

Recently Alberta Tourism was chastised for using an image of a beach in Northumberland, England in its multi-million dollar campaign to improve Alberta’s global image. (source CTV: Alberta tourism campaign uses English beach photo. Fri. Apr. 24 2009)

… oops …

Albertans are understandably a little upset about this because a misrepresentation has taken place. Alberta is a beautiful province and there are unending possibilities for stunning images that represent Albertan children playing in the Albertan country side.

Perhaps the people who created the campaign were under time constraints or budget constraints or lazy. Maybe it was more convenient to purchase a generic royalty free photo rather than stomping around the province doing photo shoots.

Whatever the reason, it reminds me of how every day marketers misrepresent food products, trying to make us believe that what is on the grocery shelf is the real thing. And because it is cheap, fast and convenient we allow ourselves to be deceived.

So if you are upset that a multi-million dollar campaign misrepresents what it is trying to sell, remember that its not just the tourism industry that uses these tactics.

Here’s a couple of pictures to keep things real. The first one is Real Food purchased at the Calgary Farmers Market and the second picture is Real Alberta, Chief Hector Lake at Nakoda Lodge.

real food.